The Image

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Mary Mendum, Marilyn Roberts, Carl Parker. This sexual journey tells of a writer who hooks up with an old acquaintance and convinces her to engage in a menage a trois with her and her older lady friend. S&M games permeate this erotically-charged cinematic masterpiece. 1975/color/94 min/NR.

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Radley METZGER’s THE IMAGE (also known under the more exploitative title THE PUNISHMENT OF ANNE) is without doubt not everybody’s cup of tea. Based on an infamous French bestseller this movie is shocking in its relentless depiction of a weird triangle relationship between a mature woman, her submissive young girl friend and a curious author.Please note: If you feel uneasy when you see graphic sex, humiliation, degradation, bondage, whipping and urination, then do not watch this film. On the other hand, this is no raincoat brigade movie. Instead it is a masterly crafted piece of art with outstanding cinematography, a beautiful score and fine actors (Yes, everybody here can act better than most mainstream academy award winners.)Regrettably the rough SM scenes could easily distract from or obscure the motivation of the characters.THE IMAGE has an unusual book-like structure with chapters (no, I’m not refering to the DVD chapters). According to the liner notes the film is very faithful to its literary source. I liked the social setting of the film – it takes places among educated, eloquent and wealthy jet set people. And the film makes good use of its nice Paris locations. I found THE IMAGE very compelling viewing. I just didn’t like the fitting room scene too much, because it seemed like a rather cliche porn situation to me.Some words about the DVD: SYNAPSE did a real great job with the transfer. One can’t praise the picture quality high enough. The uncut film is presented widescreen.Unfortunately there aren’t too many extras: the director’s filmography, an isolated score and five trailers of Radley METZGER movies: SCORE, THE LICKERISH QUARTET, CAMILLE 2000, THERESE AND ISABELLE and CARMEN BABY. Kudos to Stephen R. BISSETTE for his insightful liner notes. I recommend to read it before you watch the movie, because it really enhances your understanding of the film despite some spoilers.

In the tradition of “The Story of O” and “Emmanuel”…this Radley Metzger 1975 classic is stupendous!Beautifully filmed, with minimum fanfare, it gets straight to the point within minutes of you watching it. And that point is not pornographic…but rather sensual and erotic. The total submission of the young star, Anne, played by Mary Mendum, to her older dominatrix girlfriend Claire and her boyfriend Jean, is “a middle aged couple’s dream come true”. If you want your wife or girlfriend to be dripping with anticipation…turn the lights down and have her watch this film, in its entirety and I’m certain any woman will be drawn in to its lusty presentation! That being said…this is not a film for group viewing by your neighbors next door…unless????Unlike the video taped, bluntly pornographic XXX movies of today… 1975’s “The Image” was filmed, in a way when showing just enough, was good enough to be shown. Although there are some shocking scenes of oral sex between the stars, this film mostly deals with sexual tension and lustful sentiments, inside anyone (male or female) who has ever “lusted” after a youthful girl, strictly to inflict decipline, pain and pleasure upon her. Five stars is not high enough of a rating for this “must have in your erotic collection masterpiece!” I would have always enjoyed more violent sex and torture scenes, however, given what’s being produced these days….this film clearly stands out as a “classic of all time” proportions!

Arguably the finest S/M movie ever made, Radley Metzger’s ‘The Image'(aka The Punishment of Anne) tells of Jean, a writer who meets an old friend, Claire, at a party and is soon drawn into her world of S/M along with her slave, Anne. Based on the French novel ‘L’image’ by Jean de Berg, a nom de guerre for Catherine Robbe-Grillet, this may be Radley (Score!, Therese and Isabelle, The Opening of Misty Beethoven)Metzger’s best film. Beautifully filmed and acted and very erotic. The dvd transfer of the film is absolutely stunning. The picture is pristine and the colors leap out at you. The new stereo mix is great. The original mono track is also included. There is a Metzger filmography and a few trailers for his films included as well. Kudo’s to Synapse for releasing this gem of a film and doing such a great job on it! If your up for some primo euro-erotica at its finest, look no further!